Your Right to Know

This might be what you call fighting fire(fighters) with fire(fighters).

Building a Better Ohio, the Republican group pushing to save Senate Bill 5 through a “yes”
vote on state Issue 2, unveiled its first ad today. It features Toledo Mayor Mike Bell, who talks
about his time as a firefighter and how he was laid off years ago. He says the new law that
significantly weakens collective bargaining for public workers will help him balance his budget as
mayor.

Contrasting with an ad that the anti-Senate Bill 5 group started running this past weekend,
which featured firefighters and talked of how the bill could damage public safety, the new ad shows
Bell in his days as a firefighter, and ends with a shot of an anonymous firefighter walking through
a firehouse, holding a child’s hand.

Bell, a firefighter and fire chief for 27 years, a former state fire marshal, and a political
independent, has been the most prominent Ohio city leader to come out in support of the
anti-collective bargaining law.

“Years ago, I lost my job as a firefighter because my city ran out of money,” Bell says in
the ad. “So as mayor, I’m working to fix my city without laying off good people or raising taxes.
That’s why I support Issue 2.”

Jason Mauk, spokesman for Building a Better Ohio, said Issue 2 provides an alternative to
raising taxes or laying off police, firefighters or teachers because of unsustainable union
contracts.

“We’re giving some very reasonable cost-saving alternatives to these local communities so
they can save jobs, balance budgets and provide good services without constantly going back for
more tax revenue,” he said.

Mauk said the ad is not a direct response to We Are Ohio, the coalition of Democrats and
union supporters whose first ad prominently featured rank-and-file firefighters calling for a “no”
vote on Issue 2.

“We believe (Bell) has a powerful, personal story, and frankly has a lot of credibility
having been on all sides of this debate,” Mauk said. “If you talk about finding someone who
understands all aspects of this debate, Mike Bell is that person.”

Responding to the ad, We Are Ohio asked: “Who do you trust more, hypocritical politicians who
support this unsafe and unfair law or firefighters who risk their lives to serve and protect us?”

“They blame firefighters, nurses and teachers for the budget problems they created by giving
hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax breaks to their corporate campaign contributors, while at
the same time cutting funding to local communities for safety services,” We Are Ohio spokeswoman
Melissa Fazekas said in a release.

Asked why Bell could not handle his city’s budget crunch under the current collective
bargaining laws by asking the unions for concessions, Mauk said, “The reality is, these current
bargaining laws tie the hands of local officials. These contractual agreements compound over time.”

He added: “It makes it very difficult to unravel or unwind these clogged arteries of local
government.”

Mauk would not say where the ad is running, except that it is statewide. His group has not
yet revealed its donors, but he said there is money coming in from outside the state.

“It speaks to the significance of this issue nationwide,” Mauk said.

“We care about workers’ rights, and we care about taxpayers’ rights even more. So we’ve got
some reforms here that we believe embrace both.”